Reshuffle at last

The Mills presidency might have developed a penchant for denying stories regarding cabinet reshuffles.

But for how long can he torpedo another ministerial reshuffle that had been on his table for some time now because a newspaper has blown the lid? This is a multi-million question that even his most trusted aides are pondering over.

But for his visit to China, the one phenomenon which many NDC functionaries dread hearing would have been announced early this week. An authoritative grapevine source at the Castle, the seat of government, hinted the Today newspaper that the Atta Mills’ axe will ultimately fall heavily on some prominent personalities in his government upon his return from China.

Some of the high-flying ministers on the President ‘hit’ list, the paper can report, include the beleaguered Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, Enoch Tei Mensah, Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Minister, Betty Mould Iddrisu, Minister of Information, John Akologu Tia, Minister of Youth and Sports, Akua Sena Dansua, Brong Ahafor Regional Minister, Nyamekye Marfo and Minister of Communications, Haruna Iddrisu.

The sources disclosed that the President is either not happy about the performance of some of these ministers or utterly worried about the manner they are embroiled in one controversy or the other. The Brong Ahafo Regional Minister risks being axed by the President because of his alleged involvement in the rebel activities of NDC splinter group, Real Democratic Patriots Party (RDPP).

Nyamekye Marfo was spotted by some NDC faithful during a meeting between the leadership of the RDPP and the National Security where the regional minister did not hide his sympathy to the cause of the Cubagee group.

John Tia, according to the Castle source until the infamous Stan Dogbe hampers’ scandal, had been hailed for the mastery handling of arguably the most sophisticated and controversial portfolio in government – the Ministry of Information.

The President, the source disclosed to ‘Today’, would have preferred that john Tia remained silent on the issue for Stan Dogbe to defend himself. Interestingly, the stoic defence put up by John Tia on the issue on a number of radio stations is rather proving to be a major judgmental flaw that is likely to unmake him.And unless his lobbyists put up a spirited defence, John Tia would be on his way out of cabinet.

For Ningo Prampram legislator, E.T. Mensah, the President is said to be highly upset at certain utterances during the recent industrial action by members of the Civil and Local Government Staff Association, Ghana (GLOSAG) and his subsequent court action against the leadership of the group.“The President was not too pleased with some of the comments E.T. Mensah made on the GLOSAG issue and without any fear of contradiction, I can tell you his name is first on the reshuffle list,” the source hinted.

From the account of the insider, who is a non-executive, but influential member of the party, it appears that the power brokers of the party, who masterminded the appointment of E.T. Mensah has all been let down and, have this time around, weaned themselves off from any lobbying bid for the former ports Minister in the NDC 1 regime of former President Rawlings.

The source further intimated that others on the reshuffle list seem to have gone the long haul with the President’s patience on their sloppy performance. And from all indications, they would not be offered another chance.

That category of ministers included Betty Mould-Iddrisu and Haruna Iddrissu.President Mills has still not forgiven Betty Mould- Iddrissu on the basic blunders she had so far committed in the handling of some high profile political cases involving some top persons in the former NPP administration.

Those lapses, Castle sources revealed, has offered the adrenalin for t op NDC members including former President Rawlings to take the administration to the cleaners accusing it of covering up for the said former government officials.

Perhaps again this report will force the President to shelve the obvious reshuffle; but if he should stick to his plan, then current Minister of Interior, Martin Amidu, is the likely candidate to fill the void that is likely to be created by the Betty Mould exit.

The biggest headache, though, will be who to replace Martin Amidu. Three names have come up. They include deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Mahama Ayariga, deputy Majority Leader, Rashid Pelpuo, and Dr. Tony Aidoo, although his name was too popular amongst many NDC and government stalwarts.

Akua Dansua, the paper gathered, is not pursuing efficiently the reason why she was pushed into the Youth Ministry and most of the younger group in government who obviously are peeved at what they consider to be her “compromising stance” seems to be getting the President’s ears in replacing the North Dayi MP. The lady legislator is said to be too close to the leadership of the GFA and that obviously is not getting down well with the President’s Castle hangers on who have sworn to get the Kwesi Nyantakyi-led administration out of office before the expiration of their 2011 mandate.

Until recently, Haruna iddrissu remained a darling of the administration. That was partly because he combined a wonderful finesse in communication skills to win more admirers for himself and the NDC administration. But forte has turned out to be his Achilles heel.

Although the paper found it difficult to substantiate, Haruna’s major accusation is that he has sweet-talked Nigerian telecommunication giant, Globacom, into holding on to their imminence presence on the Ghanaian market, when in fact impression being created in government is one that showed a lack of commitment and zeal on the part of Globacom to come and establish in Ghana.